“He was already so tiny and frail… At this rate, he’ll surely die before he can complete his final shedding!”

If she had known—if she had known it was Baek A who needed the Moon Spirit Herb—she would have surrendered it long ago.

Ah, but she had not recovered her memories at the time, so perhaps that would have been impossible.

In any case, there was no denying that this was her fault. If she had not coveted the Moon Spirit Herb, Baek A—Gwang—would have completed his shedding with ease and become the Dragon King.

She had to take responsibility.

That was why she had prepared everything here in secret, without even telling Lady Chang’e.

Still perched upon the branch, So Ok released a long sigh before undoing her transformation once more.

Pop!

With that sound, So Ok’s body returned to its rabbit form. Squeezing her glass-red eyes shut, she leaped toward the cauldron of cold, boiling water.

“Squeeeeeak!”

I’m sorry, Baek A! I promise I’ll save you!

The instant the little rabbit threw herself into the cauldron, a bolt of lightning struck Anrong Pavilion.

Anrong Pavilion was the hall used by members of the Dragon King’s family whenever they underwent a shedding. It was designed to ensure that no outside threat or disturbance could endanger an imugi during the process.

That was why the aquatic courtiers were horrified when lightning suddenly erupted with a deafening rumble and crash in the depths of the sea. They had been standing vigilant guard before Anrong Pavilion, where Gwang had entered to undergo his final shedding, determined to allow no threat or disturbance through.

[What in the world is happening?!]

[Have some wicked creatures invaded us?]

[Surely it cannot be demons…?]

As the courtiers descended into confusion, another bolt of lightning struck the very peak of Anrong Pavilion’s roof—several times larger and more powerful than the first.

Boom!

The force of the impact blew away the pavilion’s sturdy roof in an instant. While the startled courtiers gaped soundlessly, a strange figure began rising through the opening, its body wreathed in auspicious clouds.

Sparks of lightning danced across brilliant blue scales, making them shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow. The magnificent horns rising from its head appeared nearly twice as large as they had been when it was an imugi.

Most striking of all was the Dragon Pearl held in its mouth, deep blue and radiant with the colors of the Seven Treasures.

[Heavens!]

[His Highness! Our Highness!]

[He has ascended! He has become a true dragon!]

Those with limbs raised every one of them, even if they possessed seven or eight, while those with short fins flapped them passionately in celebration.

At last, Gwang had successfully completed his final shedding and ascended as a majestic true dragon.

The East Sea Dragon Palace had nothing left to fear.

Shedding tears of joy, the courtiers waited for their new Dragon King to descend. Naturally, they all assumed that the Dragon King would wish to receive his courtiers’ congratulations before anything else.

But the azure dragon, which had paused above Anrong Pavilion, merely stared intently into the distance.

The next instant, it shot away and vanished, moving faster than a lightning bolt striking the earth.

[…What?]

[Y-Your Highness?]

Abandoned on this auspicious day, the courtiers could only stare at the empty space above the roofless pavilion and gape in bewilderment.

So Ok had squeezed her eyes shut and leaped toward the cauldron.

The fall seemed to be taking longer than she had imagined.

Was this her life flashing before her eyes?

Perhaps that was why she even had time for such pointless thoughts.

Come to think of it, that bitter lettuce was so tender and delicious. I wonder where they found it.

Amid her idle thoughts, however, one surprisingly important realization arose.

Wait! I never told anyone to take the rabbit stew to him!

That was right. So Ok had deceived even Lady Chang’e. She knew that Lady Chang’e would stop her if she discovered what she intended to do, so she had planned everything alone.

Naturally, she had not told any of the Dragon Palace ladies-in-waiting or courtiers either.

Even if the medicine made by thoroughly dissolving the Moon Spirit Herb is completed, there’ll be no one to take it to Baek A!

That was out of the question!

She was doing all of this to save Baek A!

Fortunately, her life appeared to be flashing before her eyes for an unusually long time, and she did not feel any pain. She must not have fallen into the cauldron yet.

That meant she still had a chance.

I’ll kick the cauldron away with my powerful hind legs! Then I’ll find someone to deliver the medicine to Baek A after enough time has passed, and try again!

Having made up her mind, So Ok’s eyes flew open. She kicked wildly in every direction with all the strength in her swift, powerful hind legs.

She kicked as furiously as she did when fleeing from wolves or tigers.

No—even harder than that!

Thump-thump-thump!

So Ok unleashed a barrage of kicks!

But the enormous arms wrapped around her did not budge.

Huh? Arms?

For a moment, So Ok could not understand what she was seeing. Arms covered in deep blue scales were holding her tightly. The white-glowing branches of the cassia trees were nowhere in sight.

“Wh-what?”

She was floating in midair, cradled tenderly in the embrace of an immensely huge and powerful being.

Yellow eyes with vertically slit pupils had drawn close to her face.

They were the same eyes as those of the little white snake who had once lain feebly coiled around her hand.

The same eyes as the imugi who had treated So Ok with such inexplicable gentleness and affection.

The eyes of a true dragon.

Tears burst from So Ok’s eyes. Choking with joy, she clung to the enormous azure dragon’s snout and cried out.

“Squeeeeeak!”

Thank goodness! You survived! You became a true dragon!

A gentle voice rich with laughter reverberated around them.

[Yes. Of course I did. Did you truly think I would die because I could not endure a single shedding like those useless half-wit brothers of mine? Is that why you tried to jump into the cauldron?]

He was angry, yet the thought that So Ok had worried about him enough to sacrifice herself made his voice soften despite himself.

Even so, he did not forget to boast of his abilities. After all, was it not a male’s instinct to show off before the female he loved?

So Ok glared up at him with her red eyes. The little rabbit shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Squeak! Squeeeeeak!”

What a braggart! You were so frail that you nearly died during your very first shedding!

The dragon, enormous enough to coil his body around Anrong Pavilion, visibly flinched.

[Ah. So you found out.]

Slightly embarrassed, he furtively averted his gaze.

So Ok promptly bounded across his hand in the direction he had turned. His hand was so immense that she could run upon it with ease.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

Why didn’t you tell me you were Baek A?

The dragon’s majestic voice dwindled pitifully, like a little brother being scolded by his elder sister.

[Well… you did not remember me, So Ok…]

“Squeak!”

Even so, you could have explained what happened in the past! I would have recovered my memories easily!

Indeed, So Ok had regained her memories the instant she saw the cassia grove in the Dragon Palace. It would have been better if Gwang had kindly explained everything to her in detail.

Her anger was entirely justified.

After venting it for a while, So Ok began worrying about Gwang again.

“Squeak? Squeak?”

But are you really all right? Did the shedding go properly? You’re a true dragon now, so that means everything is fine, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t you have eaten another Moon Spirit Herb?

Gwang answered cheerfully.

[I am fine. Eating one Moon Spirit Herb was more than enough for me to become a true dragon. Even as an imugi, I was already several times stronger than my brothers. There was no need to worry.]

Now completely relieved, the rabbit promptly became angry again.

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”

You! Then why did you ask for a second Moon Spirit Herb? You got me captured and dragged here!

So Ok’s swift, powerful hind legs smacked Gwang’s palm.

Thump! Thump!

It was a sign that she was extremely angry.

Gwang replied in an even more dejected voice.

[Asking for the Moon Spirit Herb was a signal Chang’e and I had agreed upon in advance. It meant that she was to send you to the Dragon Palace. I never imagined… that Chang’e would be absent at the time.]

His explanation was as follows.

The reason it had taken him another five hundred years to bring So Ok to him was simple. When So Ok had first caused the Moon Spirit Herb to bloom, she had been no more than an ordinary rabbit. She needed several more centuries to accumulate enough spiritual power to become a spirit beast again.

Moreover, when Gwang had only just returned to the Dragon Palace, he still had six elder brothers. Their struggle over the position of Dragon King was fierce, and bringing a small rabbit into the Dragon Palace would have been far too dangerous.

Three of those six brothers had died after failing their sheddings, but the other three had died for different reasons. Officially, however, they too were said to have died during their sheddings. There had been no reason to reveal the conflict within the Dragon Palace.

His third brother, the last to die, had most certainly perished for a reason unrelated to shedding. Immediately after the previous Dragon King, their father, passed out of existence, the two brothers had secretly fought to the death. Gwang had afterward announced that his brother had died after failing his shedding.

Very few knew the truth.

Only recently had Gwang finally succeeded in seizing control of the Dragon Palace and becoming its sole heir.

While Chang’e and her husband, General Yi, were away from the Moon Palace, Gwang decided that the time had come and sent the previously agreed-upon request for the Moon Spirit Herb.

Not once had Gwang claimed that he needed the Moon Spirit Herb as medicine for his shedding. The Dragon Palace courtiers and the Moon Palace spirit beasts had simply made that assumption on their own.

Thus, instead of sending So Ok, they had attempted to hand over the actual Moon Spirit Herb. The enraged So Ok had promptly swallowed it whole, only to be tied up tightly and delivered to the Dragon Palace.

“Squeeeeeak!”

Then you should have released me the moment I was brought here!

[I did release you immediately!]

Now that she thought about it, it had been almost immediate.

Something had seemed strange at the time. Gwang had been far too gentle and affectionate toward a thief who had eaten the medicine he supposedly needed.

Of course… he showed no mercy in the bedchamber.

The more she thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

So Ok’s tiny paw stroked one of the gleaming scales near the tip of Gwang’s snout. That single scale was larger than her entire little body.

So Ok transformed again, returning to human form. Now, even with every finger extended, one of her hands was only about the same size as a single scale.

“My goodness. You grew this much… That tiny little Baek A.”

Gwang’s eyes curved with laughter, and he answered with a hint of bashfulness.

[I had rather hoped you would not remember me from when I was so frail and helpless…]

Gwang then dismissed his true dragon form and transformed into a man. Gathering So Ok into his arms like a princess, he whispered softly into her ear.

[Still, I like that you cherish me so dearly and worry about me.]

So Ok smiled brightly.

“I love the little Baek A and the Dragon King who has grown so enormous.”

Gwang’s eyes narrowed in a smile. No matter how large he had grown or how mighty a Dragon King he had become, he still smiled exactly as he had when he was small enough to fit in So Ok’s palm.

As though he were still the little snake for whom she had once caught fireflies with her own hands, So Ok pressed a light kiss to Gwang’s smooth, pale forehead.

Gwang’s face instantly flushed scarlet.

Not even when he had displayed such inexhaustible virility in bed had she seen him look this embarrassed.

So Ok laughed softly.

“My Dragon King is so adorable.”

Then she hooked one slender finger beneath Gwang’s chin and drew his gaze back to her. Smiling at how he still could not hide his flushed face, she pressed her lips to his.

Once.

Then twice.

Those two kisses filled Gwang with such happiness that he seemed to melt beneath them.

The enormous and exalted Dragon King could not bring himself to resist the touch or lips of one little jade rabbit.

And so, with only two bites, the little rabbit swallowed the enormous dragon whole.

Volume 1 Chapter 11

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